Copy catty

Over at Willamette Week, theater critic Ben Waterhouse is claiming similarities between one of his reviews and one penned by Alison Hallett, theater critic for the Portland Mercury. Over at the Mercury, Hallett doesn't see it.

Ben's review; Alison's review. Ben's statement; Alison's statement.

(Disclaimer: Ben is an acquaintance; I've never met Alison.)

I didn't see a huge similarity between the two pieces beyond the opening line of each, so I ran them both through Copyscape. Copyscape came up empty, too (though it can only match phrases, not tonal, structural, or stylistic similarities).

Though if I was Hallett's editor, I'd care less about the particulars of the review than I would the fact that it appeared eight days after the competition.

Edited to add: At the moment this post is on the front page of Oregonlive.com. For the record, I didn't write the headline accompanying it.

Comments

[Matt Davis]

Miaaaaoooowwwwww...

[I feel somebody had to say it!]

[Kevin]

Your restraint in not going off on a flight of cat synonym fancy is noted, and appreciated.